Conventional wireless computer and communication networking environments include computerized devices equipped with wireless communications circuitry that enables wireless (e.g., radio frequency) communications to take place between the devices operating in the network. One example of such a conventional wireless network is a radio frequency identification (RFID) network or system that enables communication with objects that contain or have radio frequency identification tags affixed thereto.
In a typical configuration of a conventional RFID network, a central control computer system communicates with a group of transceiver devices known as “tag readers” that are distributed or installed for operation over a particular geographical coverage area or zone. Each tag reader is able to broadcast a radio frequency signal according to a specific tag communications protocol that causes the individual radio frequency tags affixed to objects in the zone of that tag reader to respond with information such as a unique tag identity programmed into each tag. In this way, the tag reader can detect the unique tag identities of all tagged objects within that tag reader's “readable” zone and can report this information back to the central computer system. This allows the central computer system to identify and track the existence of specific tagged objects within the zone of each transceiver within the RFID system.
As a specific example, in a retail setting, an aisle in a store may contain items of merchandise for sale that each contains an attached RFID tag that is encoded with a unique identification code. The central computer system may periodically activate a tag reader positioned in a location nearby the aisle to cause the tag reader to send out a radio frequency signal having a special modulated encoding that causes the tagged items of merchandise in the store to report their identity or other information to the tag reader via activation of circuitry within each tag in response to the signal from the tag reader. The tag reader collects the reported identities of the tagged merchandise and returns this information to the central control computer system for inventory control and sales tracking purposes. RFID network equipment manufacturers and developers are presently deploying RFID networks in a variety of operational environments such as manufacturing, shipping and retail settings to provide a mechanism for tracking large numbers of tagged objects.
Early implementations of RFID networks provided for hard-wired or physical communications links such as data communications cables extending from the central computer system to each transceiver (i.e., each tag reader was physically coupled with a communications link to the central computer system). However, more recent developments in RFID technology resulting difficulties in dealing with geographic complexities of operating environments of RFID networks have resulted in the ability of tag readers to communicate wirelessly with the central control computer system. This allows the tag readers to be placed in convenient locations throughout the geographic region of coverage desired for the RFID network and avoids constraints imposed by any requirement to provide physical data communications cable paths to the tag readers. In addition, in situations in which an RFID network needs to be expanded to additional geographic regions or zones, wireless communications between the tag readers and the central control computer system enables quick network expansion capability by simply adding additional tag readers at locations requiring RFID coverage without wiring a data communications link from the central computer system to those zones.